Unnatural
by One Lucky Unicorn
Summary: When it comes to helping others and saving lives, the Danger Rangers are pros. But this time, can they save one of their own?
1. Chapter 1

Unnatural

A Danger Rangers fan-fiction

**Author's notes:** Even though Sully is referred to as a seal in the show and elsewhere for the most part, I refer to him as being a sea lion in my stories, as he has ear flaps just like sea lions do (I'll have a pictures of a sea lion and a seal posted for comparison in my blog soon). I don't know if the creators mistook a sea lion for a seal, or just didn't quite know what a real seal looked like.

Also, while SAVO was alternately portrayed in the show by Jonathan Harris and Charlie Adler, I like to imagine him as being voiced by Jonathan Harris (who may best be known for his portrayal of Dr. Smith in the classic television series "Lost In Space") in my stories. Not to sell Charlie Adler short or anything, but Jonathan Harris just has a really awesome voice.

**Chapter One**

Two sets of eyes, one large and almond-shaped, with crystal blue irises and long lashes, the other eyes a shade of blue that was the same color as the ocean, sized one another up unflinchingly, their owners sending out a wordless but a clear challenge to each another.

"You ready?"

A cocky smirk settled into place on the muzzle of the ocean blue-eyed individual. "Funny, I was about to ask you the same question. I mean, if you're not up to the challenge, then I could be nice and let you win..." His tone became sing-song and teasing.

The first speaker snorted defiantly, her dander up. "Dream on, _Sullivan_!"

Inside the high-tech training room where the Danger Rangers would hone their skills, Sully and Kitty stood together on a platform overlooking an obstacle course, a recent addition to the Rangers' training regimen. Designed to test the Rangers physically as well as encourage teamwork among them (though today Sully and Kitty weren't using it for the latter purpose), the obstacle course consisted of such obstacles as spinning logs, hurdles, ropes, a cargo net for climbing, climbing bars, and pendulums that the participant had to try and avoid or risk being knocked into the water below. It wasn't easy to master. Even Sully and Kitty, who were the quickest and most agile members of the team, had never made it all the way through without fail.

From where the other Danger Rangers watched on the sidelines, Squeaky turned to Burble and Burt. "So do either of yous think they're actually ever gonna get through this thing?" The little mouse asked in his heavy Brooklyn accent.

"Statically, the chances aren't very high. Twenty out of one-hundred, to be more precise." Burt thoughtfully replied.

"Aw, come on guys, try to be a little more optimistic," Burble told them. "Who knows? Maybe this'll be a lucky days for one of them."

Gabriela, the Rangers' Chief of Operations, was literally perched inside the control booth that was situated over the training room. Giving the control panel before her one last look-over to make sure the settings were in working order and ready to go, the red-feathered hummingbird then activated the computer that controlled the obstacle course before giving her friends a thumb's (well, make that wing-tip) up. "All set guys! Ready whenever you are."

Sully and Kitty were off like shots out of a gun, running down the ramp that twisted and turned through the first half of the course. The pendulums, which could basically be described as large punching bags, suddenly came flying at them. The sea lion and the cat successfully sidestepped them before coming to the end of the ramp. Sully's eyes narrowed as he saw the next obstacle in line. Two heavy-duty plastic logs hung suspended from the ceiling by chains. They were the only way to reach the next leg of the course. The height from which the logs hung could be adjusted to suit each participant depending on their heights and levels of athleticism. Right now, both were suspended five feet up in the air. This part always gave Sully trouble – it was difficult for him to jump high enough to get a good grip on a log. Sea lions weren't exactly known for their jumping skills, after all.

Undeterred, Kitty effortlessly sprang into the air and grabbed hold of the log on her side. Using the momentum from her jump, she swung over to the other side and landed on the platform there. Turning to look back at Sully, she grinned cheekily and blew him a kiss. "Don't wait up!"

Sully grit his teeth as his face took on a determined expression. Stepping back, he ran forward and leaped, aiming for the log. _'Please let me make it please let me make it!...'_

He made it by the skin of his teeth, nearly losing his grip on the log's smooth surface and sliding off. Bracing himself, he jumped off the swaying log to land on the platform. Now all he had to do was catch up with Kitty. She had already made it to the climbing bars and was making her way across them. Putting on an extra burst of speed, Sully grabbed on to the first bar and started climbing hand over hand. As speedy as Kitty was, the bars were tough going for even someone like her, as they required a lot of upper body strength – something that Sully did have.

Sully managed to catch up to his rival, and they arrived on the other side at roughly the same time. The duo tore towards the next leg of the course, the spinning logs. They were treacherous to cross, due to the fact that it was hard to get a good foothold on something that was constantly in motion.

"Danger alert, danger alert!" The dignified voice of SAVO, the Rangers' sophisticated computer, blared over the loudspeakers, demanding everyone's attention.

Sully and Kitty were already in the middle of running across their respective spinning logs. With a yelp, a startled Sully lost his balance and fell into the water. Kitty too was momentarily taken off-guard by the sudden announcement, and slipped off her log to receive a dunking.

"Guess I spoke too soon." Burble remarked as Sully and Kitty resurfaced, and went to help Kitty climb out.

As Gabriele shut the course down, Sully swam to the side of the pool, grinning to himself even though SAVO's alerts usually meant there was trouble. He was actually amused by the fact that both he and Kitty had been thwarted in their efforts to beat the obstacle course. _'Oh well, another time.'_ He thought, getting out of the water.

"What is it, SAVO?" He asked the A.I., instantly switching into "hero mode". The other Rangers intently waited to hear what SAVO had to say as well.

"Oh Rangers, it's just terrible! My scanners have picked up a level five safety infraction in a factory near Trenton, New Jersey. The conditions there are dreadfully deplorable! There is a total disregard for safety on the owners' behalf!"

Kitty nodded as she wrung her sopping wet tail out. "We'll be in the Debriefing Room ASAP."

* * *

When Sully and Kitty had dried themselves off and gotten ready, everyone gathered together in the Debriefing Room to see SAVO's report. The footage that he had pulled up on one of the two large television monitors showed the factory in question and what was going on there. One room contained what looked to be open metal drums of some unknown liquids. The next piece of footage showed workers busy on an assembly line and then a close-up of several frayed and worn-looking electrical cords.

"United Motors specializes in making automotive parts," SAVO began explaining." As you all can see, there are numerous examples of workplace infractions and unsafe conditions: dangerous chemicals being improperly contained, inadequate strain relief and insulation for electrical cords, machinery in various states of disrepair, and unguarded floor openings! "

"Looks like someone's been paying the safety inspectors off." Kitty dryly remarked.

Glancing up from typing on the computer in the special state-of-the-art booth where she often sat and monitored missions when not out in the field with her teammates, Gabriele spoke up. "Either that, or the owners' managed to hide the problems when the inspectors show up. SAVO, can you see who owns United Motors?"

SAVO immediately complied, announcing after a moment, "That would be a Mr. Robert Collins."

"I think we need to go pay Mr. Collins a visit." Sully said, looking to his fellow Rangers.

Nodding resolutely Gabriel hit a button on the control panel before calling out, "SAVO, initiate launch sequence!"

The team ran to the Launch Room, where in the center of the floor, a section of the floor flipped up to reveal their main source of transpiration, the Hovercraft. Boarding the VTOL aircraft, they buckled themselves in before Sully started the engines up and the Hovercraft lifted off.

It was a quick flight from the Danger Rangers' Mount Rushmore base in South Dakota to Trenton. The Hovercraft was one of fastest aircraft currently in existence, so it wasn't long before the factory, which consisted of one large light blue and white building flanked by three slightly smaller buildings, came into view. Sully landed on the roof of the biggest building, and everyone disembarked from the Hovercraft. Rather than give the plant supervisors any time to try and hide the violations by announcing their visit, the Rangers had decided that a surprise visit would be the best course of action.

The five anthromorphs entered the building through the rooftop entrance. At first glance the factory didn't look so bad, but the Rangers knew from past experience that appearances were deceiving.

"Check that out!" Running up to a guard railing, Squeaky pushed up against it with all of his force, causing it to shake in place. The nails that should've kept it in place were loose and rusty. "If someone leaned on this, they'd take a nasty fall!"

"Kitty, you and Burt go see if any of the supervisors are around. Burble, Squeaky, and I will go talk to the workers and document all these hazards." Sully instructed. Like his teammates, he did _not_ like what he was seeing here. "Contact us if you need anything."

"Got it." With that, Kitty and the young turtle headed off in one direction. The remaining three Rangers made their way down a set of stairs to the second level. Catching sight of something from the corner of his eye, Sully turned his head to see what it was. From behind a closed door, he noticed a bright flash of yellow light shine through the glass.

Intrigued, Sully addressed his friends. "You two go ahead, I'll catch up. I just saw something funny over there." He pointed back down the way they had come, at the door where he had seen the light.

"Okay, but be careful." Burble said before continuing on, intending to go down to the first level where most of the workers seemed to be.

"Need some backup?"Squeaky offered Sully, who smiled.

"The more the merrier."

To get there faster, Squeaky hitched a ride on Sully, sitting on the sea lion's shoulder. As he walked, Sully's flippers made a light slapping sound against the metal floor. When they were front of the door, Sully started to open it. The room appeared to be lit inside by fluorescent lights, but neither had seen the flash of light again.

"Now, let's see what's behind door number one…" Sully cracked under his breath.

As soon as the door was halfway open, everything exploded into chaos. A pair of strong arms dragged Sully inside the room before he could do anything. In the melee, Squeaky was sent flying and had a rough landing on the floor.

"'ey what's the big idea? Who -" The angry mouse was abruptly cut off as a yellow-and-orange tabby snatched him up and dropped him inside a large jar on a table.

Meanwhile, Sully found himself confronted with three assailants - a kangaroo, a cougar, and a coyote. "Back off, guys. You're interfering with official Danger Ranger business!" he warned, getting into a combat stance.

"That's the whole point, Mr. Danger Ranger." The cougar fired back, charging Sully. He threw a punch that Sully was able to dodge, but the kangaroo quite literally jumped in just then and aimed a kick that connected with his side, knocking him to the floor. In spite of the pain he was in, Sully managed to roll out of way of another powerful kick. The coyote tried attacking next, but made the mistake of getting in too close to Sully. Reaching up, Sully grabbed him by his jacket collar and, throwing his weight backwards, spun the unbalanced canine around, sending him tumbling right into his cougar companion.

But while he did have some combat training under his belt, both prior to joining the team and after, mostly in the martial arts, three opponents were ultimately proving too difficult for Sully to deal with. Squeaky's furious shouts and threats were audible even from inside his glass prison as he watched the brawl, though it was just background noise to Sully as he focused on fending off his attackers. Finally though, he found himself firmly pinned underneath one of the kangaroo's large feet.

"Boys, are you playing nicely over there? Oooo, and what do we have here? Guests? You know, it really is quite rude that you didn't call me first before stopping by!"

Immediately Sully and Squeaky both recognized the voice. _'Oh no, not him!…' _Out of all the criminals the Rangers had faced before, he was the most memorable for his off-kilter, wild rambling as well as his egomania. The fact that he had managed to abduct most of the Rangers thanks to his energy constraint gun was what potentially made him one of the biggest threats they had ever gone up against.

Sighing, Sully tried to mask his irritation, instead gazing stoically at the white duck who was standing in front of him, maniacally grinning at him. "Hello, Quentin."


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two**

"You remember me! I'm touched, Ranger Sully!" Melodramatically, Quentin pretended to wipe a tear away from his face. "Because I certainly didn't forget about you or the rest of the Rangers while _I was rotting away in prison_!" In his fit of anger, his voice rose to a shout and his tone became harsher. His attention suddenly turned to Squeaky, who was giving Quentin his best death-glare. "What about you, short stack? How are you and the rest of the Snoop Squad doing?"

Squeaky's only response to the eccentric inventor was a rude gesture.

Sully reflected on their situation. A few years back, the Danger Rangers had apprehended Quentin, whose playground equipment company had been steadily losing money. Quentin had built a device that sounded like something out of a sci-fi show – it was supposed to teleport people from place to place through the use of metal domes. He was counting on his teleporter to make him lots of money (once he had worked out all the bugs) by eliminating the need for things like public transportation. The machine was powered by the energy children expended while playing on playground equipment. In order to harvest this energy, his company created rigged playground equipment that had proven to be too dangerous for children to play on. When the Rangers started investigating the out-of-control playground equipment, Quentin had abducted everyone save for Gabriele (who had been back at base), but they'd managed to escape and catch him. Everyone had unanimously agreed that it was one of the team's weirder cases. Quentin was tried for his crimes and given ten years. Sully hadn't been following Quentin's activities too closely after he'd gone to prison – he just wanted to forget all about the annoying bird. He'd figured they'd heard the last of Manderbill, but here he was, and this time he had some muscle backing him up. This wasn't looking good.

"What are you doing here? I thought you would've learned your lesson and cleaned up your act by now." In spite of the pain he was in, Sully addressed Quentin sternly, unafraid of him.

"Oh but I have, Rangers, I have! I've made a few adjustments to my teleporter since the last time I showed it to you. For one, it no longer relies on a fickle energy source like sticky-fingered little brats! Nope, now it's powered by – are you ready for this? - something that I can get anywhere at any time! Can you guess what it is?" Quentin ran to the other side of the room, over to two large identical dome-shaped machines standing side-by-side – his teleporter. Leaning against the machine on the right, he lovingly ran a white-feathered hand over its polished turquoise surface before looking back at the two Rangers. Seeing that Sully and Squeaky weren't going to offer up any guesses anytime soon, he went ahead and answered for them. "Peanut oil! Now I can finally start making money again, and it's all thanks to my generous benefactors!"

"Good for you. Your doohickey there is environmentally friendly." Squeaky sarcastically drawled before screaming at the top of his lungs, _"Now let us outta here!"_

Quentin pretended to think for a moment. "How shall I put this?... Sorry, nope, no can do, ain't happenin' _compadre_! You two want to ruin me just like before!" He pointed an accusing finger in their direction. "I ain't going back to the slammer! Do you have any idea what it's like in there? The walls closing in all around you, bad food, no privacy – I was going crazy!"

'_Well, crazier.'_ Sully thought, rolling his eyes. "Do you think you could call Bigfoot here off?" He dryly asked, referring to the kangaroo, who scowled at the crack. Sully could feel himself developing a headache from being pinned under his foot the way he was.

"Hmm? Oh, get him up." Quentin gestured disinterestedly at the sea lion. Quentin's henchmen didn't seem to take him especially seriously either, but did as they were ordered. Grabbing an arm each, the cougar and the kangaroo roughly lifted Sully to his feet.

"You ruined yourself when you started putting your dangerous products out there in the first place." Sully told Quentin. "And you're only digging yourself in deeper by holding us captive like this!"

Slowly, a devious smirk spread across Quentin's bill. "I did learn one lesson – don't ever leave any witnesses behind! Have you ever been teleported to Antarctica, Ranger Sully?"

Sully and Squeaky's eyes grew wide. The cougar and the kangaroo began forcing their captive towards the teleporter while Squeaky watched helplessly. Sully put up a good struggle, but ultimately was simply outmuscled.

The two thugs managed to get him in front of the teleporter, and shoved him into the one on the right when Burble thundered into the room with the fury of a winter blizzard, right at Sully's aggressors. The cougar moved to intercept him, leaving the kangaroo to handle Sully. Burble and the big cat struggled furiously against one another before a right cross from Burble sent him stumbling back – right against the dome on the right-hand side.

With one of his foes preoccupied, Sully had tried to make a break for it, but the kangaroo was making that difficult. Sully was forced to alternately fight off the taller anthro while trying to slip past him and get out of the teleporter when the cougar suddenly collided with the machine. As the cougar's broad back accidentally struck several buttons on the machine's control panel, it came to life with a soft electronic hum. Sully had taken advantage of the distraction provided by the cougar and threw a straight punch to the kangaroo's midsection, doubling him over. That was when he heard the teleporter come on. Lights on the inside of the teleporter's ceiling emitted brilliant streams of light, causing Sully to let out a pained yell as he was temporarily blinded. A strange sensation suddenly coursed through him. It felt as though his entire body was vibrating. Something was happening - was he being teleported to some unknown location?

"Sully!" Having heard his friend cry out, Burble raced over to the teleporter as fast as his legs would allow, knocking the kangaroo out of the way as he did. The polar bear remembered the teleporter from the Rangers' previous encounter with Quentin, but didn't have a clue how it worked. Frantically his dark eyes roved over the control panel. There had to be an off-switch or something somewhere! He lacked Burt's technical expertise, and most of these buttons had labels that didn't make much sense to him.

'_I don't have time for this!'_ Burble thought, frustrated. Looking around, he spotted a thick black electrical cord coming from the back of the teleporter. Feeling like an idiot for not thinking about unplugging the machine in the first place, he rushed over and pulled the plug out of the wall outlet. The teleporter became dark and silent once more.

"Don't just stand there!" An agitated Quentin shouted at the coyote and the tabby cat as he pointed to Burble. "Get him!"

In spite of their boss' command, the coyote and the tabby cat were clearly reluctant to mix it up with Burble, who was easily bigger than the two of them put together. It was about that time that Kitty and Burt arrived on the scene. To them, it looked as though they had just entered some makeshift laboratory.

"Squeaky!" Burt exclaimed, spotting the mouse trapped inside the jar. Kitty's eyes narrowed ominously as they locked in on the blue-suited duck standing across the room from them.

"Quentin!"

"Ranger girl!" Quentin shouted before shrugging a little. "Sorry, I just wanted to yell out a name too."

Kitty made a sound of disgust at Quentin's antics. The coyote and the tabby jumped in front of her and Burt, having gotten their courage back now that they had some opponents who looked like they could be more easily dealt with.

"Where do you two think you're going?" The coyote demanded, reaching for Kitty. That was a big mistake. Kitty grabbed his outstretched arm and, using his own momentum against him, pitched him over her shoulder with a _judo_ technique.

While Kitty dealt with the coyote, Burt found himself facing off against the tabby. Unlike the other four Rangers, Burt wasn't much of a physical fighter, preferring to rely on his gadgets or his mind to take care of problems instead. He ducked a punch coming at his face by hastily retracting his head inside his shell. The tabby missed his intended target and struck the wall behind Burt by mistake. Swearing in agony, he clutched his injured hand. Realizing that he didn't have the time to pull out a tool to take care of the thug, Burt took a deep breath, then lunged at him while his attention was still diverted, taking him down to the ground. They struggled against one another. Burt tried recalling some of the martial arts techniques Sully and Kitty had taught him, but found his mind blanking. Instead he settled for trying to punch the tabby, but that was easier said than done.

Thanks to her natural abilities and martial arts skills, Kitty had managed to subdue her canine opponent. Seeing that Burt was having some problems, she ran over to lend a helping hand – or rather a helping foot, as she caught the other feline in the side with a flying kick. The tabby was knocked off Burt, but was quick to recover. As he and Kitty started carefully circling each other, Burt sat up, breathing heavily from adrenaline as well as exertion. Not wanting to leave the thug to Kitty, the reptile glanced around and spotted a crowbar in one corner. He ran over and grabbed it, then rushed back over to the catfight. For Kitty, the tabby was proving to be more nimble than the coyote had been and thusly harder to hit, but one blow from Burt's crowbar took him out of the fight.

While all this was going on, Burble and Squeaky were distracted by Sully's plight, fearing that the teleporter had done its job and now Sully was only God knows where on the planet. To their immense relief, Sully dazedly staggered out of the machine. Burble was quick to grab him just in case he collapsed.

"Is he alright, big guy?" Squeaky anxiously asked.

Now free to help his cohorts, Burt made his way over to the table on which Squeaky's jar rested. Reaching a hand inside the jar, he pulled Squeaky out and received a grateful thank you.

Quentin may have been a lot of things, but stupid wasn't one of them. Seeing that his henchmen had been incapacitated and that the Rangers had regrouped, he decided to beat a hasty retreat. _"Hasta mañana!" _He shouted, managing to dodge a charging Burt and Squeaky. He snatched up another one of his recent inventions, a rocket pack. Putting it on, he then grabbed the control stick that was attached to the rocket pack and pressed a button on it. The twin rockets built onto the back of the pack began to roar and spit flame as they fired up. Quentin was lifted several feet off the ground, and laughing crazily, hovered over the scene before flying out through an open window nearby.

Burble frowned as he watched his departure before turning his attention back to Sully, who appeared to be in a state of delirium. "Sully, talk to me. Are you alright?"

Sully managed to glance up at Burble, trying to focus. Everything around him was spinning, but he thought he could recognize Burble's bass voice. "Burble… How'd you find us?" Even though his voice was faint, his words were fairly clear.

"I turned on my SAVO watch." Squeaky proudly stated, holding his wrist up. "The others heard everything Quentin said."

Guided carefully by Burble, Sully was seated on a stool Burt had found and brought over for him. The other Rangers crowded around their leader, asking him if he was alright and other questions. Sully's dizziness was starting to go away, but his stomach felt weird, like he had ridden a roller coaster that had a bunch of twists and loops, and there was a weird metallic taste in his mouth. Also, in addition to a number of bruises he'd gotten from fighting, Sully had sustained a nasty scratch from the kangaroo's clawed feet to his left side, and the coyote had actually bitten him while they had been rolling around on the ground locked in combat earlier.

Sully managed to wave everyone off. "I'll live. Where's Quentin?"

"That nutcase flew the coop - literally." Squeaky said, gritting his teeth in anger and glancing towards the window.

"We'll worry about him later. Right now we need to make sure these guys," Kitty gestured at Quentin's henchmen, all of whom were out like lights, "Don't go anywhere and get Sully some medical attention." She and Burt helped Sully stand, intending to take him back to the Hovercraft, while Burble and Squeaky went to work putting the four henchmen in handcuffs until the police could arrive and take them in. As she left with Burt and Sully, Kitty spoke into her SAVO watch. "SAVO, call the police and have them come out to United Motors."

* * *

"I don't get it," Burble was saying. "How did Quentin get out so soon?"

Everyone was back at DRHQ in the Medical Bay, where Gabriele and Fallbot, the ex-test robot turned junior Danger Ranger, had joined them. Sully was seated on one of the two examining tables there, receiving further first aid from Kitty, while the others either sat or stood around. Burt and Burble had been checked over as well, but in terms of injuries Sully was the worse off of the three.

"According to the court files I was able to read, he got time off for good behavior," Gabriele explained as she literally hovered over her friends. "Still, we should've been alerted about his release."

"Well, since he's violated his parole, the police are involved and looking for him now." Kitty said, briefly looking up from cleaning the gash Sully had sustained.

The entire time, Fallbot had listened to the Rangers' account of their mission in utter amazement. He had been extremely worried to see Sully return looking like he'd been through the wringer, but after being reassured that he would be alright by the others, he'd calmed down (or what passed for calm with the excitable robot anyways). "Wow, this guy sounds scary! Do you think he'd ever try coming here?" He asked.

The others fell silent. That thought had crossed each one of their minds after their encounter with Quentin. There were other criminals who held grudges against the Rangers for playing a major role in apprehending them, but Quentin was the type who was unpredictable and just crazy enough to actually launch an attack against DRHQ.

Burt scowled. A bit of a rivalry had developed between him and Quentin regarding their respective talents and intellect. Before he could answer Fallbot though, SAVO piped up. "He would have to work awfully hard to bypass the security systems that Burt and Gabriele have set in place. And even if he was somehow capable of doing so, he would have _me_ to deal with." If an A.I. could haughtily sniff, then SAVO would've done just that.

Burt's face lightened. "My thoughts exactly, SAVO. So don't worry, Fallbot. Not even Quentin would try attacking us in our own headquarters."

"He mentioned somethin' about having benefactors," Squeaky mused. "Maybe it's the guy who owns United Motors, what's-his-face. That would explain what Manderbill was doing there." On the way back to DRHQ, Kitty and Burt told the others that they had managed to get a hold of Robert Collins, United Motor's owner, over the telephone, as he wasn't there at the factory at the time. The Rangers had questioned him as to why Quentin had been at his factory (as well as warning him to clean up conditions there or else), but the man had clamed up and said he wanted to speak to his attorney, which the Rangers discovered was his response to the police when they asked him the same question. The four henchmen hadn't been as lucky as Quentin, and were presently in police custody.

Agreeing with Squeaky's line of thought, Gabriele nodded. "SAVO and I will look into it further. In the mean time, why don't you guys go relax? You've earned it."

"Thanks, G.B." Squeaky gave her a grateful smile before looking around at the others. "Youse guys wanna watch a movie?"

The others all agreed, while Fallbot gasped eagerly. "Could we? I wanna watch a comedy! No, uh, an adventure movie! Or maybe –"

"Oh jeez." Squeaky grumbled under his breath. He decided to cut Fallbot off before he could ramble on any further. "We'll _vote_ on what to watch, okay?"

"Okay!" Fallbot cheerfully agreed. "I'll go make the popcorn!" Eagerly he scampered out of the room. After a moment, a crash could be heard from further down the hall, followed by Fallbot asking, "Who put that there?"

Shaking her head good-naturedly at Fallbot's accident-prone ways, Kitty put the first aid kit away in the cabinet. "Okay Sully, I'm done."

Sully had a faraway look on his face, and started when he heard his name spoken. He hadn't said much since their return. "Huh? Oh, too bad. I kinda like being fussed over." He grinned at Kitty, who just rolled her eyes.

"Yeah, you're fine." She said, lightly chuckling. Even though there were times when she wished that Sully would act more professionally then what he tended to, and in spite of all the jibes and jokes she'd make at his expense, she did have a soft spot for him. It was a great relief that he hadn't been seriously harmed during that day's mission. Earlier she thought they'd have to call in the doctor to take a look at him. It still probably wouldn't hurt for him to get a check-up just in case. "Don't worry Sully. we'll get him." Kitty reassured him, believing his silence was due to the fact that Quentin had escaped.

"Yeah. That loudmouth can't hide forever." Burble added.

"I know," Sully replied. "I'm just glad he still hasn't figured out how to fix his teleporter."

"Me too. Because there's no way I was going all the way to Antarctica to get your butt." Playfully, Kitty poked him in the chest.

"Oh come on, you would've been totally missing me!"

"Well… it is handy having our very own court jester around..."

Pretending to take offense at her comment, Sully groaned. "Come on, what happened to your bedside manner?"

Squeaky and Burble shared a knowing smile between themselves before Squeaky interrupted their leaders' good-humored exchange. "Hey, mom, dad, we gotta movie to watch, remember?"

* * *

It had been three days since the Danger Rangers' encounter with Quentin. While Sully's injuries were beginning to heal, unsurprisingly he was still sore. The Rangers' personal physician, Dr. Yvette DeHart, had come in a couple of days ago and examined Sully. She said that his injuries were healing normally and had given him a clean bill of health. As for Quentin, the Trenton Police Department was in the dark as to his whereabouts, though they had confiscated his teleporter. The henchmen who the Rangers had fought with had ultimately refused to give up anything on Quentin or anyone else who might've been connected with his activities, so they were currently sitting in jail on bond.

Dr. DeHart had instructed Sully to avoid doing anything strenuous for at least a week in order to allow his body to recover. To Sully's dismay that meant no training and no missions involving rigorous activity. But so far, no major missions had come their way. Still though, Sully had quickly become bored with having to sit around DRHQ. Indoor activities like puzzles, playing video games with the guys, and watching his favorite movies had helped take the edge off his restlessness, but being a jock at heart, Sully couldn't wait to get active again. Right now, he was sitting in the Rangers' large Debriefing Room, listening intently as Gabriele was telling him the investigation she and SAVO were conducting on Robert Collins.

"As far as we can tell, his record is clean," She was saying. "But there is one thing of interest that came up though. We found a connection between Mr. Collins and a Romanian businessman named Claudiu Serban. Serban reportedly has ties to the Romanian underworld."

"Romanian underworld? You mean like mobsters?" Sully blurted out. Realizing that he sounded a little _too_ excited, he awkwardly cleared his throat. "Uh, I mean, Romanian underworld, huh? Sounds troubling."

Gabriele couldn't help smirking. "Been watching too many mobster movies again?"

"Maybe. But you know I'm more of an action fan at heart then a mob movie guy."He laughed.

"Anyways," SAVO jumped in, wanting to steer the conversation back to the investigation, "At this time, we are still trying to determine whether or not this Serban fellow really has ties to any criminal organizations. Oh, I shudder to think what such fiends might do with a device like the teleporter!"

"Good work, you guys." Sully congratulated the pair. If the mob thing turned out to be true, then this case had just gotten a lot bigger – and potentially more dangerous.

"_Gracias_. Well, I'm going down to the gym and work out for a little bit," Gabriele said. "Are you going to be alright here Sully? Squeaky or Burble should be back from town soon." She knew how tough it was for him to have to refrain from physical activity.

"Don't worry about me. Go and sweat to the oldies."

"Alright. But hummingbirds don't sweat, you know." Taking to the wing, Gabriele gave him a wink and a smile before flying off.

Watching her leave, Sully couldn't help feeling a twinge of jealousy. _'I really_ _hope I get better soon.' _He thought. Hoping that SAVO had some task around DRHQ he could do to get his mind off his current situation, he addressed the A.I. "So SAVO, what's on the schedule for today?"

"I believe it is your turn to handle report detailing and filing duty, Ranger Sully."

Sully's expression turned sour._ "Goody."_ _'Good grief, I'm not _that _bored.'_ He thought, but nonetheless, he rose from the sofa and made his way to the office where the team typed the reports up at. Report detailing and filing duty was probably one of his least favorite things in the world because it was so amazingly dull. But as it _was_ his turn, he felt obligated to do it.

Sully opened the door and turned the light on. Looking around, his eyes came to rest on the sole computer atop the desk there and heaved a heavy sigh. He took a seat at the desk and began to type, detailing their recent mission at United Motors. In fifty minutes he had completed the report. Relieved to be done, Sully pushed his chair back and gave his arms a stretch while going over everything he was supposed to do in his head. Wasn't there something else that needed taking care of? That was right - they were supposed to fax some papers over to the Salvation Army regarding an upcoming charity event.

Locating the papers in question in a green folder marked "EVENTS" on the desk, Sully gathered them up, neatly stacked them together, and went over to the fax machine. Thankfully, faxing stuff usually didn't take too long. He watched as the word _"Calling…"_ appeared on the fax machine's status screen after he dialed the Salvation Army's fax number. The machine made a few electronic beeps and other noises as it called the number, but otherwise, nothing happened. And it went on like this for the next four minutes.

Again, Sully checked the status of the fax. _"__Calling__…"_ Why was this taking so long? He had better things to do then just wait around on his tail for these stupid papers to go through! He could feel anger welling up in him like hot magma inside a volcano, and tried to force it down. Folding his arms, he rocked back and forth on his heels in an attempt to calm himself. He wasn't about to lose his cool over a dumb machine. He tried dialing the number again. The fax machine went through its usual motions for five more minutes… and still nothing happened.

Infuriated, Sully grabbed the fax machine and started shaking it, then moved to hurl it across the room. Well, he _would've_ thrown it had it not still been plugged into the wall. As its cord was stretched to its limits, the machine was yanked out of his hands and landed on the floor. It smashed loudly on impact, the sound serving to snap Sully out of his rage, and he stared dumbly at the fax machine, which now lay in several pieces.

The crash brought Burt and Gabriele running (or in Gabriele's case, flying) from down the hall. Stepping inside the office, the two gaped when they saw Sully standing there with the wrecked fax machine.

Gabriele spoke first. "Is everything alright?"

"I… um… had an accident with the fax." Shrugging, Sully laughed weakly.

Incredulous, Gabriele raised a brow ridge. "I'll say."

**Author's notes:** I incorporated the idea of Sully being allergic to report detailing/filing duty from Usami's story Duty Calls into my headcanon.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter Three**

**Author's notes: **Am I the only person who thinks the Danger Rangers' headquarters have an extremely confusing layout? I'm going to try and make some sense of it for the story, but since I don't have all the episodes on hand to refer to, I will gladly accept any help or suggestions about it.

I do want to warn that there is a swear word in this chapter. Originally I was going back and forth on whether or not to include it, but ultimately I feel it helps the scene that it's used it in.

The following morning found Sully by himself on DRHQ's first floor, in the Observation Room. Here, a row of large windows ran along the length of the outer wall, showing off an excellent view of the rugged but beautiful landscape of South Dakota's Black Hills. Tangerine-hued sunlight gently caressed rocky hills, dense deep green conifer forests, and the asphalt roadway that wound through the countryside in the distance as the sun rose further into the sky. Dressed in civilian clothes, Sully was standing at one of the windows and looking out. Sometimes he would come up here to watch the sun either rise or set. But even though he seemed to be taking in the scenery, another part of his mind was elsewhere entirely.

Sully was well-aware of the fact that he had completely lost his temper the other day, and worse, over something as innocuous as a fax machine. It was kind of embarrassing really. He was well-known for his ability to keep a cool head in the tightest of spots and being a relaxed person by nature, after all. He'd offered to buy a new fax machine, but Burt had volunteered to take a look at the one he'd damaged to see if it could be repaired.

'_It's being cooped up here that made me act like that.'_ Sully reasoned. _'That has to be it.'_ Deciding that a nice big breakfast would be just what the doctor ordered, he turned away from the window. Crossing over to where the elevator door was, he opened it and stepped inside. Pressing another button, he then waited as the elevator took him down to the third floor where the kitchen was located. When he finally arrived at his destination, Sully got out and made his way down the hall to the kitchen. Hoping to find something good there, he ventured inside.

Other then Burt and Fallbot (and there was no telling where either of them were), everyone else was there already. Kitty, Squeaky, and Gabriele were sitting at the table. Squeaky was combing through the newspaper, apparently looking for something, while Kitty and Gabriele conversed between themselves. Burble stood over the stove, tending to some sausages that were frying on a hot skillet. When it came to cooking, the Rangers either took care of their own meals, each individual cooking for his or herself, or went to various eateries. But at other times, like when special occasions came up for example, they'd take turns making meals for everybody. Obviously today was Burble's turn, as he'd thrown on a black apron over his clothes and had a white chef's cap perched atop his head.

"Morning, guys." Sully cheerfully called out. "Something sure smells good in here!"

The other Rangers brightly greeted him in turn, and Burble beamed at him. "Mornin', Sully! Have a seat! I made waffles, sausage, and hash browns."

Depending on who was handling the cooking, the quality of the food could range from good to… well, somewhat edible. Thankfully Squeaky wasn't cooking today, or else just about everything probably would've had cheese in it. But Burble was a decent cook, so Sully didn't feel any trepidation as he took the chair next to Squeaky. He suddenly flinched – he must've sat down too roughly, as one of the bruises on his back suddenly flared with pain.

"Yo, anyone know where the sports section is?"Squeaky asked. He was standing on the tabletop, beady bright eyes intently scanning its surface.

Glancing at the center of table, Sully noticed the rest of the disassembled paper there and gathered it to him. He sorted through it before picking up a section with the title _SPORTS_ printed at the top. "Here." He said, handing it over to the mouse, who thanked him and started reading it. To Sully's relief, so far no one seemed interested in bringing up the fax machine incident.

It didn't take breakfast much longer to finish cooking, and once it was done, Burble served his appreciative friends. Sully's mouth began watering as Burble set his plate down in front of him. He hadn't realized just how hungry he really was. Grabbing a knife and fork, he enthusiastically dug in.

Burt came barreling in just then, wearing a set of powerful-looking robotic arms that he'd formally dubbed his Nab-Grabbers over his own arms, an excited expression on his face. "Hey guys, guess what? I made some modifications to my Nab-Grabbers! Now they're capable of stretching to a total length of seven feet and have even more dexterity!"

"That's great, Burt!" Burble said, genuinely enthused. He had removed his hat and apron and joined the others at the table. "Why don't you join us?" When Burt got really wound up over some invention of his, he tended to neglect other things – sometimes, even things like eating and resting. Granted, the turtle wasn't nearly as bad about this as he had been before when the Danger Rangers had first gotten together, but the old obsessive tendencies would resurface on occasion. Burble wasn't sure if this was one of those times or not.

Burt's green-scaled head bobbed up and down in a nod. "Sure, just let me demonstrate what the Nab-Grabbers can do now. You guys are gonna love this! Sully, would you mind helping me?"

Dismayed, Sully glanced up from his meal. "When I'm done," he tried to say, but as his mouth was full of food his words were unintelligible.

Burt assumed he was agreeing to his request. After all, Sully had always been willing to lend a hand before whenever Burt wanted him to assist him with something. "Excellent! Now, I'm going to use the Nab-Grabbers to pour a glass of orange juice and hand it to you." Extending the Nab-Grabbers forward, he used the left hand to pick up a glass sitting on the countertop, then grabbed the orange juice carton that was on the same counter with the other hand. As the other Rangers watched in interest, Burt managed to fill the glass without spilling a drop of orange juice, then, set the carton back down and started bringing the glass over to Sully, all without moving an inch from his original position in front of the doorway.

'_Okay, so that is kinda cool.'_ Sully thought. Maybe this wouldn't be another incident where something would go wrong and he'd wind up caught in the crossfire.

Just as the orange juice was close enough for him to reach out and take, which he started to do, something happened. The glass slipped from the robotic fingers, dousing Sully with its contents and causing him to immediately jump up from his chair. Cold orange juice dripped down his dodger blue shirt and the front of his dark brown-trimmed tan shorts. "Dammit! Good going, Burt!" He snarled.

Wordless with shock, everyone stared at the sea lion, who was too preoccupied with glaring angrily at Burt to even notice their stunned expressions.

For his part, Burt was frozen in place like a deer in the headlights. Finally though, he managed to stutter out an apology. "U-u-uh, sorry Sully, I didn't mean to do that. I'll take care of it..."

"No, you've done enough damage for one morning." Sully grumbled, storming over to where the oven was to grab a dish towel off the door bar and try wiping some of the juice off. "Great, now I smell like an orange farm!"

"What's gotten into you?" Kitty hotly demanded, having recovered her voice.

"Don't act like this is the first time he's done something like this to me," Sully snapped back at her. "Remember that safety demonstration we did at the park for those kids in Branson, when he pulled my shorts down?"

At this point, Burt looked like he wanted to draw his head into his shell and never come out again, while Kitty was matching Sully glare for glare and the others just looked plain uncomfortable. Before Kitty could reply, Gabriele cleared her throat for order. "Sully, why don't you go get cleaned up? I'll take care of things here."

"Gladly." Flinging the dishtowel onto the countertop with more force then was necessary, Sully stalked out of the kitchen without another glance behind him.

* * *

When he was alone in the peace and quiet of his bedroom (his bathroom more specifically) and had time to think about what had just transpired in the kitchen, Sully could feel himself calming down… somewhat. Okay, so maybe he didn't have to snap at Burt the way he did. Burt was a good guy, but _did_ have a habit of being annoyingly pushy sometimes. And Burt never even realized when he was acting that way either (Sully wasn't sure if that made things worse or not). Usually, a warning look or a few words from either him or one of the other Rangers was enough to get Burt to knock it off. But when Sully had had his breakfast ruined, the park incident had risen to the forefront of his mind, and well, he'd lost it. Burt could've at least had the decency to have waited until he was finished eating before shanghaiing him into being his guinea pig. Sully had been good-natured enough to put up with it some of the time before, even during that humiliating incident in Branson. Sometimes it just seemed like he was a constant victim of Murphy's Law, Sully dourly reflected.

'_I'll apologize later.'_ Sully thought, pulling his T-shirt over his head and off. Holding the wet article of clothing away from him in one hand, he regarded it with chagrin. _'Great. I hope this doesn't stain.'_ It was his favorite shirt. His youngest sister Sandy had bought it for him to commemorate his graduating from college.

Sully just so happened to glance over the bathroom mirror, and did a double-take at what he saw reflected in it. The bruises on his chest and back, which had still been an angry dark purplish-red color underneath his glaucous-colored fur just last night, were largely faded now. If they had healed, then what about the cut on his left side? Dr. DeHart had told him that he was lucky it hadn't been worse then what it was; kangaroos packed a mean kick. Frowning, Sully put his T-shirt in the sink and turned his attention to the bandage covering the deep laceration. Bracing himself, he started carefully peeling the bandage away. The fur around the wound had been shaved away so that it wouldn't stick to either it or the bandage, making removal of the bandage much easier then it would've been otherwise. When the bandage was partly off, Sully's mouth fell open in amazement.

The slash was almost completely healed over, and in its place was a scab. He remembered Dr. DeHart saying that rest would help with the healing process, but _this_ quickly? She had told him to call if he had any questions. Maybe this qualified as something to ask about. Sully thought back to when he had gotten up for the day. He still had been sore then, and if he happened to move a certain way, then his body would painfully let him know to knock it off. But now he realized there was no pain at all.

"Weird…" Sully muttered under his breath. Still though… Maybe this meant that he could get back to work and get rid of his pent-up tension. After throwing the now-unneeded bandage in the trashcan, he went to get a fresh new shirt out of his clothes drawer to wear.

* * *

After the breakfast incident, things were relatively quiet around DRHQ. Sully used the time to clean his shirt and start on a book he had wanted to read for a while, all without any interruptions. He wasn't sure if the others were avoiding him or walking on eggshells because of his outburst or what. It was surprising that Kitty hadn't tried to confront him about it yet, but he chalked that up to Gabriele. At times she tended to adopt an almost motherly role among the group, coming in between him and Kitty whenever a conflict arose between the two of them to act as mediator and soothe egos and hot tempers. That had been especially true back in the "old days".

At 11:00 PM, Sully set his book, an action-thriller novel, face down on the small rectangular table he was sitting at. Right now he felt fine – no lingering anger or resentment towards Burt. He figured this was as good a time as any to go pay him a visit. It suddenly occurred to Sully that the anger he had displayed previously was the same blind rage that had taken over him when the fax machine had refused to work. What was really strange about the whole thing was that he couldn't really remember anything other than Burt and being furious at him… And actually _wanting_ to see him scared and ashamed. That wasn't like him at all.

Figuring that Burt would be in his workshop, Sully left his room and took the elevator up to the second floor. The workshop door was open, so he peered around the edge of the door frame and into the large space. Sure enough, Burt was inside, standing over a worktable as he diligently working on his Nab-Grabbers.

"Burt?" Sully called out.

Setting his screwdriver down, Burt turned to look at him. "Sully? Wh-what are doing here?" Sully could pick up on something like wariness in his eyes and in his tone.

Feeling even more remorseful now, he approached the young inventor. "Look, I'm really sorry about what happened this morning. I didn't mind helping you out, but I wanted to finish eating first. I was trying to tell you that, but I was stuffing my face at the same time. I guess that's why people tell you not to talk with your mouth full." He gave a weak smile. "But I shouldn't have yelled at you like that. It was about the worst way I could've handled the situation."

"That's alright," His mood lightened, Burt beamed at Sully before his expression became one of sheepishness. "I was being pushy. I guess I was just so excited to show you guys what I'd done that I… well, tuned everything else out. I'm really sorry about your shirt."

Sully waved him off. "It's cool, I washed it."

"Still, if it turns out to be stained, then I'll get you a new one. Uh… so would you still be willing to help me try out my inventions? If you don't, then I'll understand."

"Sure, anything for a friend. Just… Try not to get me involved in anything that could blow up in my face or spill on me, okay? Or pull my shorts down."

Burt chuckled. "Don't worry, I won't.

* * *

_"Danger alert, danger alert!"_

As SAVO raised the alarm, a flurry of activity followed. He quickly explained to the Rangers that there had been a serious traffic accident in Gera, Germany, where several vehicles had crashed into one another due to foggy weather conditions. Time was of the essence, and Kitty, Burble, Squeaky, and Burt hastily donned their standard purple and orange uniforms before racing together to the Launch Room. The Hovercraft was already prepared and waiting for the Rangers, and they got onboard. Seeing who was waiting there for them in the pilot's chair, they stopped dead in their tracks.

Clad in his own uniform, Sully stared back at the four of them expectantly. "Come on guys, we gonna go do this or what?"

"Sully's all better, so now he can start going out on missions again." Gabriele announced as she flew in. She too was coming along on this particular mission.

"Really? Well, that was… unusually quick." Burt thought aloud. By now, the rest of the Rangers were aware of the fact that he and Sully had made up, which had served to relieve the tension that had been in the air around DRHQ yesterday.

"I'll say. The last time I checked, you were still covered in bruises." Kitty added, taking her place in the co-pilot's seat. The rest of the team also took their seats.

Sully shrugged. "Well, what can I say? Dr. DeHart herself gave me a clean bill of health. Wanna see for yourselves that the bruises and stuff really are gone?"

"Nah. I don't wanna give you an excuse to run around shirtless and show off." Kitty snarked.

"Welcome back, Sully!" Burble happily congratulated his friend, who flashed him a smile in return.

Squeaky too was grinning broadly as he settled back in his seat. "Now the gang's all here again!"

In spite of Sully's insistence that he was fine, Burt still thought that his fast recovery time seemed a little strange. Ultimately though, he decided to set the matter aside to focus on their latest mission.

* * *

By the time the Danger Rangers arrived in Gera, Germany, emergency service vehicles, a fire truck, and police cars were already gathered on the scene and were continuing doing so, their bright red and blue emergency lights flashing in the ghostly white fog. The Hovercraft carefully landed on the side of the road, and the five anthromorphs rushed out. They'd brought some of their specialized equipment along to help with the rescue effort. Just as they'd been told, a mess of at least forty wrecked vehicles, including a tank truck, were bunched together in the middle of the road like an ugly jigsaw puzzle.

The Rangers' presence was cheered by both the authorities and the drivers and passengers who'd gotten out of their vehicles and were now standing by the side of the road. One of the police officers spoke English, and it was she who came forward to give Sully and the others the run-down on the situation. Several people were trapped inside the twisted wreckage, and they weren't sure how many were still alive or not. They had closed down both the north and southbound lanes in order to allow responders to access the accident scene from either direction.

The Rangers proceeded to pair off. Each two-man group would then be joining a group of German rescue workers. Burble and Squeaky, who, with his previous experience as a firefighter in New York City would be an integral part of the rescue, were teamed together. In fact, Sully was allowing him to take point on this particular job. Then there was Gabriele and Kitty, and finally, Burt and Sully.

"Is that big truck there carrying anything explosive or hazardous?" Squeaky was asking.

"Just milk." The police chief, a reindeer, answered.

"Okay, so we don't have to worry about hazardous material." Squeaky said, looking around seriously at his teammates. "But there's still a chance of car fires or even explosions happening, so let's get to it!"

Burt and Sully tackled one section of the crash scene. The air was heavy with the pungent odor of spilled gasoline. Burt had decided to take care of the spilled milk by using a special hermetically-sealed vacuum cleaner to suck it all up before it could adversely affect the surrounding environment (yes, a large amount of milk could actually kill fish and ruin the water supply). Sully meanwhile, spying a blue car that had rear ended a pickup truck and which had an elderly human man in it slumped over the steering wheel, started running over. "I think I just saw that guy move!"

Hearing Sully's shout, Burt glanced up from his work to see what was going on. Seeing what was happening, he just about dropped the vacuum cleaner hose.

Sully had grabbed the car door handle, then with one wrench, ripped the entire door completely off of the car. Discarding it, he pulled the unconscious human out and carried him over to two paramedics. Shutting his eyes, Burt quickly shook his head, wondering if he was imagining things. Burble was the only one on the team who could perform feats of great strength like that, not Sully. But no, as he watched, Sully moved onto the next vehicle and repeated the same action a second time. He didn't even seem to realize what he was doing. He stopped and looked over his shoulder at Burt, one brow ridge raised. "Burt, buddy? I think that spot's clean." He pointed to the milk-free pavement at his feet.

Snapping out of his bemused amazement, Burt mentally scolded himself for standing there and gawking. They had a job to do. He would have time to figure out what was up with Sully later. "Oh! Uh, yeah, of course!" Burt replied, moving on to clean up another area.

* * *

It took several hours and lots of hard work, but the Rangers eventually succeeded in getting everyone free of the wreckage. They couldn't have done it without the emergency responders who worked just as diligently as the Rangers themselves did. Tragically though, twenty-three people had lost their lives, and the authorities were grimly expecting more casualties. It was a sad reality in their line of work. While it was something the team had managed to come to terms with since the first time they'd lost someone in spite of their best efforts, none of them had ever really become comfortable with the idea of anybody dying. They knew that the possibility was always there though. Those who had survived the accident were taken to the nearest hospital. The Rangers requested to be updated on the situation before leaving for home.

The next afternoon, after getting a well-deserved rest, Burt, Kitty, Burble, Gabriele, and Fallbot were sitting around together in the Debriefing Room idling away the time (Squeaky was sleeping in late). Gabriele was reading something on her laptop. The Spanish hummingbird then used her wingtips to rapidly type something before looking around at everyone else with a smile. "I'm very pleased to report that everyone at the hospital in Gera has pulled through the night."

Cheers and happy exclamations went up from the other four Rangers. That piece of news felt like a victory. Afterwards, Burt's mind wandered back to Sully and his newfound super-strength. He could come up with no logical explanation for how Sully had managed to achieve such a thing. True, sea lions were fairly strong animals, but not _that_ strong. His thought patterns kept on returning to Manderbill's teleporter. Could it be responsible? They knew so little about it and what effects it had on live subjects, if any. He decided to ask the others if they'd also witnessed the same thing he did. "Did… did you guys happen to see what Sully was doing yesterday?"

Kitty shook her head. "No. Why, what happened?"

"I noticed." Burble said. "He was tearing through that wreckage like he was opening a bag of chips! When did he get that strong?"

"What?" Kitty exclaimed.

Burt proceeded to explain to her, Fallbot, and Gabriele about how Sully had suddenly demonstrated superhuman strength. While they tried processing this strange bit of news and theorize about how it might've happened in the first place, the subject of their conversation strolled in, a can of grape soda in hand. "Hey guys, what's going on?" He asked.

"Everyone who went to the hospital made it!" Burble told Sully.

Sully's muzzle spilt into a happy grin. "Really? That's awesome!"

"Hey, Sully? About yesterday, when we were in Gera…" Burt spoke up, trying to think of a good way to phrase what he wanted to say. The situation had him genuinely becoming concerned. Seeing that he had Sully's ear, he went on. "Well… Did you realize what you were doing? Tearing off car doors with your bare hands? You kept that up for a _whole_ hour."

Sully looked surprised. "I was?" He glanced around at the others, trying to see if they were just messing with him. But the other Rangers looked as serious as a heart attack. Plus, Sully seriously doubted that Burt, Kitty, and Gabriele would ever take part in pulling a prank. Typically that was Burble's thing.

"You really were! Burble and I saw you!" Burt insisted.

Taking a long drink from his soda, Sully shrugged dismissively. "So I got stronger, big deal. It was probably just an adrenaline rush. You know they say that people can get stronger in tense situations." He raised the can to his mouth again and finished off its contents before neatly pitching it into a trashcan across the room. Seeing that he'd made the shot, he grinned and performed a little victory dance.

"I don't think it was just a simple adrenaline rush, Sully. You have to admit it's a little strange: the bouts of aggression, the rapid healing, and now this? Maybe you should see Yvette again."

Kitty was inclined to agree with her technology-minded friend. "It couldn't hurt just in case there actually is something wrong."

Sully fixed her and Burt with a stare. His expression was one of irritation, and there was something unsettling in his eyes. _"Look."_ He began, tone of voice hard and dangerously low. "I feel fine. Let me do what I do, and just mind your own business!"

The room fell completely silent. Other then Sully's rapid breathing, there were no sounds. Realizing that everybody was staring at him like he was a total stranger, the anger fled from Sully's face. "I did it again, huh?" He asked in a small voice. "S-sorry. I don't know what came over me… "

"It's okay." Burble reassured him. "You know we're just worried about you and want to make sure you're not sick or anything, right?"

Sully nodded feebly, still disgusted by his behavior and embarrassed for having failed to control his temper yet again. At first, he hadn't believed that there was something wrong with him that some exercise wouldn't cure, but now he wasn't so sure. "Yeah, sure. I'll go ahead and let the doc examine me."

"I'll see about setting up an appointment for you." Gabriele said, giving Sully a soft smile and a supportive squeeze on his shoulder before zipping off.

* * *

The next morning found Sully laying in his waterbed and beginning to wake up. As he lay there slowly blinking in the light, he recalled the events of the other day and was again overcome by guilt for having snapped at Burt and Kitty the way he had. He still had no idea where that all that anger had come from. He hoped today wouldn't be a repeat of all that.

Later on yesterday evening, out of curiosity he'd gone to the exercise room, intending to use the weight bench there to see what Burt and the others had been talking about. To his surprise, he discovered he was able to lift 800 lbs, something he could only dream of doing before. The enhanced strength thing was weird, but admittedly, kind of cool too. In fact, it was the least worrisome out of all the symptoms (or whatever they were) he seemed to be experiencing. Heck, it'd probably do the team good to have another strong guy onboard – if it turned out to be permanent, anyways. Gabriele had managed to get him a doctor's appointment, and Dr. DeHart was supposed to be coming as soon as she could make the time to. He didn't have an answer as to what was happening to him, but was hopeful that whatever it was, the doc could help him.

Hoping that the day would be a fresh start for him, Sully sat up and made to throw his bed sheets off. Almost immediately he stopped and pulled his arm back. Something felt… off. As his eyes traveled down to his arms and then his hands, he saw that something _was_ off, to put it mildly.

His hands weren't recognizable as his own anymore. They looked like something out of a horror movie. His fingers were elongated, but had remained the same width as before, giving them a boney appearance. Each fingertip ended in a sharp, curved white claw, like the claws of a predatory animal.

Unaware that his breath was now coming out in shallow, harsh pants and that he had started trembling, Sully tried to get out of bed, only to trip over his own feet and fall. What had happened? Usually, his coordination was excellent. Propping himself up on his elbows, Sully rubbed his smarting jaw before glancing behind him to see what the matter was. He gasped sharply, further horrorstruck by what he saw. Gone were his flippers. Instead, in their place was what could only be described as large paws, digitigrade like those of a feral canine or big cat's by the looks of it. His legs had changed to accommodate his new feet, having become longer and more muscular. Worst of all was the addition of a tail that was longer then his arm was in length and tapered towards its end. He would've believed – _wanted_ to believe – that he was just having a very vivid nightmare, but the fall and the resulting pain made Sully realize that he was wide awake and all of this was really happening.

Righting himself, Sully used the bed to support himself as he tried to stand. He succeeded in getting back on his feet, though he wobbled perilously like a newborn foal. He made a beeline for his bathroom, trying to move carefully as he was unused to walking on his toes with his ankle raised off the ground.

Sully reached the darkened bathroom without further incident. Tentatively reaching around the corner, he flipped the light switch on, terrified of what he might find staring back at him in the mirror. Thankfully, his head and facial features were still his own - mostly. The only things that had changed were the color of his eyes and his teeth. The irises of his eyes were now a yellowish-green color. While he'd always had sharp teeth due to the fact that he was a sea lion and therefore a carnivore, his canines seemed to have doubled in length. The rest of him seemed to have gained a few more pounds of muscle as well as a few inches in height, though if that was because of his transformed legs and feet or because he really had grown taller he couldn't say. The short, sleek fur that had graced his form before had become longer and rougher-looking on the nape of his neck and on his chest, where a few strands poked out through the openings in the front of his pale blue pajama top.

Willing himself to not pass out, Sully sank to the floor, leaning forward to bury his face in his hands. He couldn't stand to look himself in the mirror any longer. What was he going to do? _'I can't go anywhere looking like a monster!'_ He thought. There was no way he was going to be able to rescue anyone now - everybody would be too scared to come anywhere near him. And how would his teammates react? He didn't want them to see him like this.

Terrified and feeling completely helpless, Sully pulled his knees up towards his chest and wrapped his arms around his legs, unwilling to move from his spot.


End file.
